Rare Omega Constellation Manhattan Skeleton

Constellation Skeleton BC 166.1204.060. Elegantly skeletonised with blackened gold hands

Chances are - no matter how long you have collected Omega vintage watches - you haven’t stumbled across this neo-vintage masterpiece.  Produced in 1995, the straight lugged Omega Constellation Skeleton above was one of only twenty pieces produced in white gold.

Two other editions with this modified Manhattan case style were released in batches of twenty pieces in yellow gold and pink gold. A further fifty pieces in the up-dated Manhattan integrated bracelet case were produced in eighteen karat solid gold.  In all, only one hundred and ten skeleton Constellations were produced.

The Skeleton collection accompanied another limited-edition series, the Manhattan Observatory Collection of fifty numbered pieces featuring a solid gold dial with a cloisonné observatory centre disc.  Both collections were created for the launch of the Constellation Manhattan face-lift, and first appeared at the prestigious Watches and Jewellery exhibition in New York in 1995.  

The Constellation Skeleton movement is a variation of the Omega automatic chronometer 1120, which was based on the Horological Hall-of-Fame ETA calibre 2892-A2.  Designated as a calibre 1225 because of its superb craftmanship, the movement was skeletonised entirely by hand to achieve lightness and elegance without compromising its robustness and precision. Each piece was cut out, filed, bevelled and engraved by an individual master watchmaker at Omega’s revitalised in-house Atelier created to continue the tradition of decorative arts in watchmaking.

The limited-edition skeleton and cloisonné Constellations were offered to high-end collectors and prestige watch boutiques and were snapped up quickly.  Several have changed hands privately, but I cannot recall having seen one surface at a public auction.  They belong in the rarefied sphere of serious collecting because of their exquisite rendering and their very limited numbers.